From Vermont to Providence
From Vermont to Providence
It's been two months since my last post so I thought I would try to post a few thoughts about each game/series since.
It turned out that the two Vermont games were very hard played games and BU continued the trend of giving up the first goal and having to play from behind. The Terriers were able to do so in both games, but the goaltending of Roxanne Douville was fabulous and she was able to get two ties at Walter Brown. Vermont played two great games against BU and they reminded me of BU’s team last year. I think the Catamounts will continue to improve the next several seasons.
The BC game at Walter Brown was a much needed reality check (although I would have preferred it to the game at BC). Giving up the first goal and the team’s other bad habits finally proved fatal as they played poorly. The final score was not reflective of the game, as it wasn’t that close. On the positive side, BU played a good third period heading into the rematch at Conte. I wasn’t at the games, but from what I read it was a good solid performance by the Terriers. They also scored first for the first time in eight games and were able to protect the slime 1-0 lead for the rest of the game.
The first game of the Princeton series looked like BU was slipping back into there out ways, as the Tigers scored first, but the Terriers responded with the tying goal less than a minute latter and it was all BU from that point on. The next game was played at Agganis Arena and Rachel Weber rebounded from her poor performance the previous night to have a solid game in net for Princeton. However BU forged a 2 -0 lead and then was able maintain the lead after the Tigers scored late in the second.
The Terriers next traveled to Connecticut and came away with a 4-0 win, but I didn’t make the trip and have no observations to make. BU next hosted NU in a Tuesday night game and it was another solid all-around performance by the Terriers. The Huskies played well in the first, if I recall correctly, but the Terriers took control in the second and never look back after taking a 1-0 in the middle of the second.
BU’s solid play carried over into their game at Harvard as they outplayed the Crimson for the first period and took a 2-0 lead early in the second. However, Harvard was not ready to roll over and the step up their play and outplayed BU for the rest of the second period and start of the third, tying the game at 2 all. BU responded retaking the leas just over a minute later and then doubling less then 2 minutes after Harvard had tied it up. The Crimson continued to pressure the Terriers, but it was BU who scored the next goal to ten minutes later to all-but-but away the game. Harvard continued to battle until the final buzzer and they were rewarded with a last second goal.
After a three week layoff BU made the trip down to Brown and I finally made it to a road game (as much to see the brown bear in the lobby as the game). Despite missing Tara Watchorn and Jenelle Kohanchuk off with the Canadian U-22 team and head coach Brian Durocher off with the US U-18 team, the Terriers showed little signs of the break. They controlled the game from start to finish and Alissa Fromkin had an easy afternoon earning her first shutout.
Providence then returned to Walter brown for the critical third game in the season series and the Friars came out with an aggressive forecheck and a physical game. Unlike the Brown game, it was obvious that BU was missing their two players off with the Canadian U-22 team. The team had trouble clearing the defensive zone on numerous occasions and turned the puck over too-many times, which lead directly to two PC goals. BU also missed passes on the break-out and in the attack zone all afternoon, allowing the Friars regain possession of the puck and counter-attack. Still, despite these problems BU had a number of great chances to score that they were unable to finish or that were saved. Despite these problems BU was able to pressure the Friars at times, including at one point when they attacked while playing 6x7 for 10+ seconds, before the officials finally called PC for too many player on the ice. The Terriers showed several areas that they need to work on but it was still a solid win against a very good team.
In goal it appears that BU is solid and in my opinion both Sperry and Fromkin have continued to improve as the season has progressed. I think Sperry is clearly the No. 1 goalie while Fromkin looks like a solid backup and Hiller is an unknown. On defense the team still needs to improve against an aggressive forecheck, but it looks good overall. On offense the team looks solid, even when it is misfiring like it did against PC. I also think that the return of Watchorn and Kohanchuk will help improve the passing as I expect the forward lines and defensive pairings to go back to what they were before the break.
Sean Pickett
